'Ghostbusters' is back - the video game - plotted like a film and boasting voicework from the original cast

SAED HINDASH/THE STAR-LEDGERChristopher Gay, of Upper Township, left, joins Rosemary Ward, of Spring City, Pa., and Nathan Paro, of Philadelphia, in reenacting the elevator scene from the cult-fave 1984 movie "Ghostbusters," before a screening of the movie at the Ritz Theatre in Philadlephia. The film's 25th anniversary brings screenings, hype and the launch of a new video game.

Move over Trekkers. Shiny shirts and phaser guns are giving way to gray jumpsuits and proton packs.

The long-awaited "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" is making its debut from Atari today. The game is plotted like a film, boasting voicework from the original cast.

"There's huge anticipation," says Christopher Gay, 23, of Upper Township, founding member of the NJ Ghostbusters fan club. "It's almost as if a sequel is coming out."

The Atari adaptation pushes the gaming envelope with sophisticated graphics and banter. The player is a trainee who joins the team, wrangling wraiths while enduring insults from the elders.

"We bark at the rookie a lot," says writer-star Harold Ramis, a k a Egon, whose new film, "Year One," stars a self-proclaimed ghost-lover, Michael Cera. "Bringing the viewer in as a character, it used to be a fantasy. People had always talked about option movies where the viewers could choose where the film went, but here they actually control the movement of the character."

A whimsical comedy with a serious budget, "Ghostbusters" was a pioneering hit that melded genres. The 1984 blockbuster has emerged as a cult classic. It has its own community of "Ghostheads" who dress up, quote jokes, collect memorabilia, pen fan fiction and attend conventions.

A perfect storm of hype is swirling around the release of the game as well as a new Blu-ray DVD, both marking 25 years since the original picture's premiere. Many of those celebrating the occasion are younger than the film itself, kids who first encountered stomping marshmallows and slime creatures on TV or in the toy store.

"I was at an anniversary screening in Los Angeles," says Ivan Reitman, director of the original and its 1989 sequel. "All these kids had come in from other places, Salt Lake City, Texas. They were all dressed up as Ghostbusters. They had the full uniforms and equipment on their backs. It was impressive, showing up at midnight and seeing literally 20 to 25 sets of Ghostbusters."

There was a similar scene in Philadelphia on June 6, when the Ritz at the Bourse theater hosted a sold-out late-night screening of the first movie. Gay was among a dozen Ghostheads from Jersey and Philly with flight suits and proton packs, some built from vacuum cleaner parts.

Mingling outside the theater, they stopped traffic and inspired choruses of, "Who you gonna call." Parked in the garage next door was Gay's customized Toyota Rav4, modeled after the car from the film with twirling lights, prop rooftop chemical tanks and a siren that wails like a Paris police chase.

Gay's six-member group gets suited up for food drives and community events like the Ocean City Doo Dah Parade, where they fire silly string at young spectators. Other clubs wear their costumes to visit schools and children's wards in hospitals.

"We draw a lot of attention wherever we go," says Gay, a security coordinator at the corporate office of Spencer's Gifts by day. "It reminds some people of childhood. Others think of it as a fun song from the '80s. The amazing part is that you'll get 5-year-old kids that know it too."

There are plenty of Gen-X fans with a nostalgic attachment to "Ghostbusters." Bryan Grimes, a Holmdel-based video producer, constructed his own illuminated proton pack while recovering from injuries in a car accident. He wore it to the Chiller Theatre Expo in Parsippany last Halloween.

"I had the toy backpack when I was a kid," says Grimes, 33, a native of Liverpool, England. "The pack was literally just a chunk of plastic. Everyone had them back then. Now that we're older, we have the financial means and the technical ability to put something together that is so true to what we wanted as kids."

While buzz of a third film always seems to be in the ether, the disappointment of "Ghostbusters II" stalled out the franchise.

Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson are back together in the game, but the actors recorded their dialogue separately. If the release proves popular enough, it may inspire them to commit to a sequel. The film would likely center on the old-timers teaching a group of apprentices the art of ectoplasmic battle.

Ramis says that two writers from "The Office," Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, are at work on a script that draws upon some new ideas from Aykroyd, who is keen to get back in uniform. The core theme is the old-timers teaching a group of apprentices the art of ectoplasmic battle.

"I hope there's a way to continue the story," Reitman says. "We have a complicated arrangement where a lot of us have to agree on a lot of things, but doing the game and the DVD has reawakened our passion for the work."

The game, developed by Terminal Reality, has been three-plus years in the making. Initially slated as an Activision product, its release was held back after a corporate merger. Ultimately, Atari picked it up to get it in stores for the 25th anniversary.

Senior artist, Glenn Gamble says the delay enabled his team to refine scenes and characters. There are roughly 10 to 12 hours of material in the game.

"We used the extra time," Gamble says. "We referenced pictures from the movie prop archives. The Dallas fan club helped us get the proton packs right. We resubtitled the whole game because Bill Murray did so much improv in the recording studio. This is something that everybody's wanted a resurgence of. The pressure has been huge, but I feel like we've done justice to the series."

The hope is that "Ghostbusters" franchise has such universal appeal, it will broaden the gaming demographic.

"I'm not into the huge role playing games, but just the trailer for this game blows my mind," says Vincent Anthony, 21, of Jefferson, a theater/communications major at Monmouth University who writes fan fiction and has designed matching uniforms with his girlfriend.

"To me," he continues, " 'Ghostbusters' is much more real and accessible because it's set in New York, and it follows these four regular guys who went into a business and it works out, albeit they almost destroyed the world in the process."